Home Office

Offences against Children: Internet

baroness jones of whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre has made of the extent of child sexual abuse and exploitation online; which groups of children are particularly at risk; and whether there is evidence of a growing problem of online sexual risk for UK children.

baroness jones of whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre has published any statistics in publicly available research reports since 2013; and if not, whether it has any plans to do so in the short term.

baroness williams of trafford: The National Crime Agency, of which the CEOP Command forms part, publishes the National Strategic Assessment annually. The Assessment provides a comprehensive picture of the risk posed to the UK and its interests by serious and organised crime, including child sexual exploitation and abuse.The National Crime Agency also publishes an Annual Report which contains a set of statistics in respect of the whole of its activity.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Council Housing

lord beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the reduction in council housing rents on (1) the maintenance and improvement of the existing council housing stock, and (2) the building of new council houses between now and 2022.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: I refer the noble Lord to my previous answer to him on 27 March - PQ HL6120.As stated in the Housing White Paper, the Government will in due course set out a rent policy for social landlords for the period beyond 2020 to help them to borrow against future income. Our aim is to ensure that they have the confidence they need about their future income in order to plan ahead.

Homelessness: Statistics

lord beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations made by the UK Statistics Authority following the 2015 review of the statistics in relation to homelessness and rough sleeping.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: Since the UK Statistics Authority report on homelessness statistics was published DCLG have engaged in detailed discussions with UK Statistics Authority officials. We have met the requirements set out below, and will continue to work with the UK Statistics Authority to make our homelessness statistics as robust and accessible as possible.We have implemented the key requirement to combine the publication of statistics on statutory homelessness and prevention and relief. We have also enhanced our user engagement structures, and based on user discussions have embarked on a project to redesign the form which collects homelessness data. We have also added harmonised region codes to local authority datasets to allow users to easily re-use the data for regional analysis and have published demographic and time series data on rough sleepers for the first time.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

lord bird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Iran about the provision of appropriate medical treatment for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and about ensuring her general welfare.

baroness anelay of st johns: ​Ministers and officials have repeatedly made representations to the Iranian Government on all consular cases involving British nationals in Iran, including Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's. On 17 February, the Foreign Secretary discussed Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case, including her health, with the Iranian Foreign Minister. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family confirmed that a specialist visited her on 19 February. The Iranian authorities have given us their assurances that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe will receive medical treatment if appropriate. We have repeatedly requested consular access so that we can be assured of her welfare, however the Iranian position on dual nationality makes progress difficult. We urge the Iranian authorities to ensure action is taken on the specialist's assessment and will pursue this at every opportunity.

Israel: Palestinians

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 23 March (HL6002), and in the light of reports by Amnesty International and Defence for Children International–Palestine drawing attention to the treatment of Palestinian children following their arrest by Israeli forces, what action they intend to take to protect those children.

baroness anelay of st johns: We will continue to raise our concerns over the treatment of Palestinian minors, particularly those in Israeli military detention, with the Israeli authorities on a regular basis.

G20

lord hunt of chesterton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the non-inclusion in the recent G20 communiqué of any reference to climate change, what measures they will take to ensure that a report on progress on climate change will be included in the final communiqué issued by future G20 meetings.

baroness anelay of st johns: The G20 Finance Ministers’ communiqué was the result of negotiation between all G20 members and invited organisations, and is one in a series of statements being issued by G20 members this year. The UK remains firmly committed to taking action to tackle climate change and to the Paris Agreement. We will continue to engage in G20 discussions in the lead up to the G20 Leaders’ Summit on 8 July.

Israel: Palestinians

baroness sheehan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make representations to the government of Israel about registering more Palestinian, or Palestine Red Crescent Society, ambulances with the Jerusalem Municipality to enable back-to-back ambulance transfers at checkpoints to become unnecessary.

baroness anelay of st johns: ​While we have not raised this specific issue, we have consistently called on the Israeli Government to ease restrictions that reduce access to medical care for Palestinians. The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported in 2015 that 84% of transfers from West Bank to East Jerusalem hospitals underwent back-to-back transfers.

UN Conference to Negotiate Ban on Nuclear Weapons

the lord bishop of chelmsford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether their officials attended the UN Conference to negotiate a ban on nuclear weapons held in New York on 27 March; and if not, why not.

baroness anelay of st johns: The British Government did not attend the negotiations on a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons that began on 27 March in New York as we do not believe these negotiations will lead to effective progress on global nuclear disarmament. The best way to achieve this goal is through gradual multilateral disarmament negotiated using a step-by-step approach and within existing international frameworks.

Zimbabwe: Human Rights

baroness kennedy of cradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their most recent assessment of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe.

baroness anelay of st johns: We remain very concerned about the human rights situation in Zimbabwe. The Government continues to uphold its manifesto commitment to "stand up for human rights and the rule of law in Zimbabwe". We regularly urge the Government of Zimbabwe to honour its obligations; we monitor reports of human rights violations, including attending trials of activists; and invest in a wide range of programmes designed to improve access to justice and provide practical support for human rights defenders.

East Africa: Human Rights

baroness kennedy of cradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their most recent assessment of the human rights situation in (1) Sudan, and (2) South Sudan.

baroness anelay of st johns: The human rights situation in Sudan remains concerning. In particular, incidences of sexual and gender based violence carried out with impunity, and restrictions on freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression, including the detention of human rights defenders and confiscations of newspaper runs, continue to be key issues that we raise with the government of Sudan. Most recently, we raised our human rights concerns during the UK-Sudan Strategic Dialogue in Khartoum on 29 March.The human rights situation in South Sudan is deeply troubling, and continued reports of human rights violations and abuses, especially in the area of sexual violence, are appalling. Together with our Troika partners, we continue to urge the African Union and the Government of South Sudan to make progress on the establishment of the Hybrid Court to ensure that perpetrators of the most serious crimes are held to account.

Cyprus: Politics and Government

lord maginnis of drumglass: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy towards the new legislation passed by the Parliament of the Republic of Cyprus officially commemorating the 1950 Enosis referendum; what assessment they have made of the impact of that legislation on the Cyprus Talks process; and what representations they have made to President Anastasiades.

baroness anelay of st johns: The Government takes every opportunity to support the Leaders of both communities in their efforts to seek a solution to the Cyprus issue. This includes encouraging them to overcome potential setbacks such as this. The Foreign Secretary discussed this and other issues relating to a Cyprus settlement with both Leaders last month. We are therefore encouraged by the Leaders' joint statement of 2 April reconfirming their commitment to finding a solution taking into account the concerns of both communities, and we welcome the announcement that talks will resume on 11 April.

Lesotho: Politics and Government

the lord bishop of durham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are providing to Lesotho as a Commonwealth partner in establishing a stable elected government.

baroness anelay of st johns: ​The UK has regularly encouraged the Lesotho Government to implement recommendations of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for public sector, security, judicial and constitutional reform, including through a recent joint UN and EU statement, a copy of which has been laid in the library of the House. The UK High Commissioner also emphasised the importance of free and fair elections when she met with the Lesotho Government last month, ahead of the scheduled elections in June. We continue to provide development assistance, including humanitarian aid, to Lesotho through regional programmes and multilateral organisations including the EU, World Bank and UN.

North Korea: Politics and Government

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the political and human rights situation in North Korea.

baroness anelay of st johns: The UK continues to be deeply concerned about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) aggressive and threatening behaviour, including two nuclear tests in 2016 and numerous ballistic missile tests. These tests are a violation of multiple UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) and demonstrate the DPRK's flagrant disregard for its international obligations. In response to the DPRK's nuclear tests, the UK strongly supported UNSCRs 2270 and 2321 which aim to restrict the DPRK's ability to fund its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. More recently, we have been at the forefront of efforts within the EU to adopt additional measures to further disrupt the DPRK's proliferation activity.As I stated in my response to written question HL1917, the UK has grave concerns about the serious and systemic human rights violations in the DPRK. We raise these concerns with the DPRK through our Embassy in Pyongyang and in international fora. The UK recently supported a new resolution at the UN Human Rights Council which aims to take forward the recommendations of the UN Group of Independent Experts Report on accountability. This is an important step forward in ensuring those responsible for human rights violations in North Korea are held to account. We will continue to work closely with partners to maintain international attention on the DPRK's appalling human rights record.Our most recent assessment of the human rights situation in DPRK can be found in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Human Rights Report 2015. The 2016 FCO Human Rights Report will be published in late spring 2017.

Côte d'Ivoire: Human Rights

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the human rights situation in Côte d’Ivoire.

baroness anelay of st johns: The Government of Cote d’Ivoire is committed to making progress in the field of human rights with the support of UN technical assistance. We are aware of the positive work of the National Commission for Human Rights in Côte d’Ivoire (CNDHCI), especially on national reconciliation, an area which remains important for community and social cohesion. The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) mission is coming to an end later this year with work being handed over to the Government of Cote d’Ivoire. We expect the Government to maintain a strong focus on the promotion and protection of human rights, and on the process of reforming the security sector.